


She WAS Lois Lane

by MaldaineD



Category: Superboy (Comics), Superman (Comics)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-21 18:29:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/903459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaldaineD/pseuds/MaldaineD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Conner shows up at Lois Lane's door with something to talk about.  Lois, being the woman that she is, decides to hear him out, but she's shocked to find that he's asking her advice on how to tell Clark some big news about the person he's dating.</p>
            </blockquote>





	She WAS Lois Lane

No one ever knocked on her door, a door that had recently been replaced; the apartments that she lived in decided that thick, wooden doors were the only acceptable form of portal protection, and so the thought of someone pounding on it hard enough to even make a sound reach her bedroom was impressive. Lois Lane wasn't impressed by people often, and since Clark usually just used the window, she wondered what sort of creature would be on the opposite side of the door, so without hesitation she grabbed her taser, and she went to answer whomever was knocking.

“Of course a peephole would ruin the rustic aesthetics of a giant wooden door...in the middle of an apartment building,” Lois said to herself as she searched for a way to see who it was without actually opening the door.

“It's me, um, it's Conner.”

Lois opened the door, and indeed it was the young Kryptonian-clone-boy. 

“Using the doorbell would make a girl a little less worried, Conner. Does it speak highly of me to suggest that coming through the window is even more preferred than knocking on the door?” Lois said with a smile and leading him into her apartment. She had slipped the taser into her pocket, but she made sure to keep it close. She'd been fooled by a shapeshifter before, and she wasn't about to make that slip-up again. 

“Is it alright that I talk to you about something? It's, well, it's sort of private,” Conner said as he scratched the back of his head. He wasn't as confident as he usually was.

“I'd say I know you well enough that I don't mind talking through private matters with you.”

“It's about the person that I love...”

“Forward. Clark just doesn't have the womanly touch you need to know about?”

“You know Bruce Wayne, right?”

“Batman and I know each other, yes. Have you started going with that Stephanie girl? I can give you a few pointers on handling Bruce Wayne while we're at it.”

“It's Tim,” Conner said as he turned around to look at Lois.

“My journalist intuition's telling me that you're not suggesting Tim Drake's jealous of your relationship with Stephanie Brown.”

“Tim and I have been dating for a few months now.”

“Why don't you sit down. You still drink Cafe-au-lait, right?”

“Yes, ma'am, er, yes. Habit, sorry.”

Lois hated being called ma'am, and she had tried to drill that into Conner's head, but it would never take. She just gave him a smile and went into the kitchen to fix up some coffee. It was sort of awkward. Lois scratched the side of her face and wondered the best way to go about talking to a young boy about his sexuality. This was sort of a new one for her.

“Conner! Get in here,” she shouted from the kitchen, and she could hear his shoes skid once or twice against her floor before the footsteps stopped all together. He floated in the rest of the way with his head hanging low. “What do you look like that for?” she asked.

“I haven't told Clark yet. I'm sort of afraid,” he responded.

“The man could crush a planet in the palm of his hand, but I can assure you that harming even a hair on your head, forgive the cliché, might kill him, well, in this case, hurting your feelings” Lois said as the coffee machine beeped and the brew finally started to pour into the pot. “And would you mind, it's rude to fly around people who could greatly benefit from the gift.”

“Sorry, Ms. Lane.”

“You just told me that you're dating a billionaire's son before you told your alien parent. I think we're past the 'Ms.' part.”

“So I should just call you Lane?”

“Nothing get's past you, Conner,” Lois said. The pot was only about halfway full. She started to wiggle her noise a little bit. Why she started doing that, she didn't know, but it was helping her think. She was trying her best to phrase her next question without sounding too frank, but then again, she hated everyone named Frank so she decided to just ask it. “Why are you telling me before Clark?”

“I trust you.”

It was a good answer. “And?”

“I don't know how to tell Clark. I was hoping you could help me with that, and help me to keep the relationship out of the papers. Tim and I are afraid that Superboy and Robin being together all the time and then Tim Drake and a random kid from Smallville might start to raise suspicions.”

“It could,” Lois said. She was hoping that the coffee would hurry up and finish brewing. Without a pad and pencil in her hand, she needed something to tap. It helped her think, or it least it did in the field. 

There was a faint sound as the coffee pot beep. Lois grabbed some cups, and she heard the sound get a little stronger. When she turned around, Conner was trying to muffle some tears in his hand. The boy could hold a bomb to his chest and not even flinch, yet he couldn't even stifle a sob. There was something beautiful about that; it was a trait that she liked about those Kents. They were good people, and often they wore their emotions on their sleeves. Conner looked up, and then glanced away when he noticed that Lois was looking at him.

“Men are allowed to cry,” she said as she pour some milk into one coffee and a dash of sugar into the other. She handed Conner the cup.

“It's just nice to finally tell someone,” Conner said with a bit of a smile. 

“Have to admit, this isn't my cup of tea. I must also apologize for all of the cliches I've been using. Been hanging around with Smallville a little to much,” she said. Lois led Conner over to the kitchen table, and they both sat down with their cups. She realized that calling Clark 'Smallville' didn't work when the person she was talking to was also from Smallville. Well, he wasn't from Smallville, but...semantics.

“At least I don't have to tell Batman,” Conner said as he smirked into his coffee cup.

“Perhaps not the best attitude to take; your boyfriend does,” Lois said matter-of-factly.

“That's true. Think I should be there with him? You know, just in case?”

“Do you think you should be there?”

Conner didn't hesitate. He pulled out his cellphone and he started to dial in some numbers. After a moment he started to speak to someone. Lois took a sip of her coffee. It was just right, bittersweet. Conner smiled and Lois couldn't help but smile during her next sip of coffee. She liked getting to use these instincts. Talking with criminals and other reporters all day was starting to make her personal skills a little rusty; she liked being sharp in all the skills that matter, or really every skill.

“I'm going to talk to Batman with Tim. He sounded a bit more relax after we decided on it, too!”

“Well, then you have one piece of stress gone. I've got some pointers to help you with press, and I can help you with any question that you'll inevitably have to answer. Tim is often at events with Bruce, and so if you tag along, the press is going to take note,” Lois said. She got up and went to her bedroom for a moment and came back with a few binders.

“What are these?”

“Some of my old interviews. I write down all the questions that I'm going to ask the people that I'm getting statements from. A lot of reporters don't stray from the pattern unless they have to. The actual press is probably going to want to know you, and the tabloids are going to try to figure everything out about you that's unsavory.”

“I can have these?”

“Please return them without any burn marks. I know you're still getting used to some of your powers,” Lois said with a bit of a scowl.

“How did you know about the heat vision?”

“You may be afraid of telling Clark about the situation, but he's crazy about you. Sometimes I can't get him to stop talking about something new that you've done,” Lois said with a laugh, and truthfully, she found it to be rather adorable. Clark talked about Conner so much that she was starting to feeling like his mother at times. Now that was the strangest thought that she had since Conner had showed up.

“Afraid to tell me what?” Clark asked as he entered into the kitchen. 

Conner nearly knocked over his cafe-au-lait, and Lois found herself slipping a hand into her pocket and feeling for the taser. After both of them recognized who it was, they relaxed again. 

“Help yourself to a cup of coffee, Clark. The kid has something to tell you,” Lois said as she gave Conner a bit of a wink. “When there isn't even a wound there, it's best to pull the bandaid off and stop worrying.”

“What do you have to talk to me about, Conner? If you broke something else and Ma and Pa's, you know we can fix it.”

“It's not about that. You know Batman?”

“I know of him, yes,” Clark said with a smile. He adjusted the glasses on his face.

“I'm dating his son, Tim. Um, Robin....”

Clark looked over at Lois who nodded. Conner's head sunk down after Clark didn't say anything for a few minutes. He assumed that Lois had been slightly wrong with how well Clark would take it. A few moments later, Conner was lifted out of his chair as Clark gave him a huge embrace. Conner smiled and returned the hug.

“I'm happy that you told me,” Clark said as he put his, well, son back on the ground. 

“Thanks, Clark. Tim and I are going to tell Bruce tonight, but I wanted to tell you before. I wanted to know that I had your support.”

“You don't need my support, but you've got it, and my love. Whatever that's worth,” Clark said with a smile. Conner thanked Lois for the coffee, the chat, and the binders of information that she had given him about how to handle the press. She told Clark she would explain it later, but he had a feeling he knew what it was. Conner was flying out the window just as he said goodbye. Apparently Tim wasn't handling the situation as well as Conner had, and he needed a little support to get through the next hour until Bruce got home.

“I'd kill to break that story,” Lois said.

“We could always write it and see what Bruce does.”

“Now, I'm all for a little bit of danger, but that sounds like the worst idea ever.”

“And I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be with exploiting Conner for a story.”

Lois smiled at him. Clark didn't bring up once that Conner had come to her first. She enjoyed that the man she loved respected her enough to not ask such a stupid question; after all, she was Lois Lane. Why the hell wouldn't he have come to her first.


End file.
